The idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Doofus Of The Day #249

An illegal immigrant is on the run after smuggling himself into Britain underneath a coach full of Border Agency officers returning from France.

The immigration officers - whose job is to stop illegal immigrants entering the country - were oblivious to the stowaway hiding between the fuel tank and the chassis of the coach bringing them through the Channel Tunnel until they arrived at their depot in Folkestone.

The man then made his break for freedom, to join the estimated 725,000 other illegal immigrants living here.

The coach driver, a contractor who does not work for the government agency, gave chase but failed to catch him.

If he is caught, it could take years to deport him, largely as a result of human-rights laws.

The humiliating incident comes after repeated complaints that Labour has failed to put a stop to the vast numbers of illegal immigrants who pour across the UK's borders every year.

New figures published last week revealed that the number of migrants arrested after hiding in the backs of lorries and vans nearly doubled in the first half of this year - up to 13,715 compared to 7,760 in the same period last year.

It is the first time an illegal migrant has been known to use Border Agency transport to gain entry to Britain from Calais, where at least 2,000 people are sleeping rough, hoping to make it across the Channel.

A political row has now erupted because no action will be taken against the coach driver hired by the Border Agency - unlike hundreds of other lorry drivers who have been prosecuted for unwittingly allowing an illegal immigrant into Britain.

. . .

... the decision not to take legal action may anger other commercial drivers who have not been treated so leniently.

Some British haulage firms have been fined up to £300,000 after illegal immigrants were found hidden in their vehicles. Individual drivers have been handed mandatory £2,000 fines for each illegal migrant they carried.

Many have claimed they had no idea they were carrying unwanted passengers.

Under Carriers' Liability legislation, drivers can face fines if they fail to make adequate checks of their vehicle for stowaways - which is why the coach driver in this case is unlikely to face further action.

. . .

Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants are believed to be in Britain working in casual jobs beyond the reach of the authorities.

Uh-huh. If twenty people whose job it is to stop illegal immigrants, can't stop one hitching a ride back to England with them, how dare those same people issue fines to commercial drivers who unwittingly give stowaways a similar opportunity?